It has seen more than 500,000 migrant arrivals since 2014, including 82,000 so far this year.

”I will receive the Italian and German interior ministers on Sunday,” French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told Reuters on the sidelines of a police academy graduation.

But an aide said the meeting was not likely to yield an immediate decision given that EU interior ministers are due to meet next week in Tallinn, Estonia.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said that the executive arm of the bloc would discuss further measures with Italy and Greece in the coming week to help them deal with their migrant arrivals.

The commission on Thursday threw its weight behind a plea by Italy for other EU states to allow rescue boats carrying migrants to dock in their ports.

It has been suggested that the ports in Barcelona and Marseille could receive migrant boats.